Clearance at berth - Save time and costs

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The slower the clearance is, the higher the storage fee is. Photo: T.H

Reduce costs, reduce inventory

HCMC Customs Department cooperate with Saigon New Port Corporation to deploy this project from the beginning of 2019. The enterprises involved in this project must be reputable enterprises which abide by customs law and the imported goods are not subject to specialized inspection. The implementation of customs procedures must go through customs agents and the enterprises must use Saigon New Port Corporation vehicle services.

The goods will be immediately transported to the warehouse after docking because they have been declared 15 days earlier by the enterprise. For goods subject to actual inspection, they will also be transported directly through the scanner area. If there is nothing suspicious it will be cleared. In the case of doubt, it will be moved to the central inspection area.

According to Deputy Director of HCMC Customs Department Nguyen Huu Nghiep, through Customs clearance at berths, businesses do not have to pay for unloading from the ship to the yard, saving at least 700,000 VND and save between 1-2 million VND/container for storage. On the other hand, the terminal will not stagnate, Customs will increase human resources in implementing customs clearance in order to strengthen the management and inspection of enterprises and high-risk items. After 5 months of implementation, over 20 enterprises which are closest customers of Saigon New Port Corporation have joined the scheme. These enterprises import goods as raw materials for production.

HCMC Customs Department and Saigon New Port Corporation have commitments of enterprises in this project. Accordingly, Saigon New Port Corporation will reduce customer expenses by 5-10% if using logistics services of Saigon New Port. The Customs agency will also ensure the most favorable conditions for import and export activities of enterprises, which ensures the channel classification and fastest possible customs clearance.

Consider to expand

Appreciating the creativity of HCMC Customs Department in deploying the scheme "Customs procedures in logistics and anti-cargo congestion at Cat Lai terminal", at a meeting with leaders of the Department in the middle of May, Deputy Minister of Finance Vu Thi Mai and Deputy Director General of Vietnam Customs Hoang Viet Cuong said that the success of the project will greatly facilitate customs clearance activities at Cat Lai port. In order to deploy the project, Deputy Minister Vu Thi Mai asked the General Department of Customs to provide a special support fund for Customs, creating a breakthrough in the customs clearance at Cat Lai terminal which has the largest volume of goods in the country. Many countries have implement this solution for many years, so there is no congestion or overload at the port. HCMC Customs has pioneered the scheme at Cat Lai port, in order to facilitate the import-export enterprises, it needs to be implemented quickly and effectively.

Following the direction of the Deputy Minister, Deputy General Director Hoang Viet Cuong asked General Department of Customs’ units to consider this as a pilot project of the whole sector, focusing on effective implementation to expand nationwide and shorten the time for customs clearance.

Already clear nearly 1,000 export declarations via Cat Lai port in the holiday

According to HCMC Customs Department’s leaders, in 2011, the Department issued a message to strive to reduce clearance time by 70% specified in the Customs Law. Solutions to achieve this goal include procedural reform, customs modernization and trade facilitation to enterprises. In particular, the coordination with port operators to support and facilitate enterprises is a key. To carry out the theme "Customs procedures in logistics and anti-cargo congestion at Cat Lai terminal", HCMC Customs Department’s leaders actively worked with Saigon New Port Corporation to discuss and approve some content to create a breakthrough in management, as well as to create the most favorable conditions for clearance of import and export goods through Cat Lai terminal.